Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote Meeting - This meeting is being held remotely via Microsoft Teams. View directions

Contact: Jackie Graham  03000 269704

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from N Bailey, C Cunnington Shore, J Gillon, L Hall, J Illingworth, V Mitchell, Dr J Smith and S White.

 

2.

Substitute Members

Minutes:

L Buckley substituted for J Gillon, S Caddell substituted for S White and M Smith substituted for L Hall.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 225 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2020 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chair.

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

The Chair noted that Items 5 and 6 would be taken together as one item.

 

5.

Update on COVID-19 and COVID-19 Local Outbreak Control Plan

Minutes:

The Board considered a verbal update report from the Chief Executive, T Collins and a report and presentation of the Director of Public Health, A Healy relating to COVID-19 and the Local Outbreak Control Plan (for copy see file of Minutes).

 

The Chief Executive noted he wished to offer his condolences on behalf of the Council to all families that had lost loved ones, friends and family to COVID-19.  He wished to express his thanks to all the partners working together in County Durham in response to the emergency, including: Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs); Foundation Trusts; Durham Constabulary; County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service; Local Resilience Forum (LRF) including their work with the military; Durham University; Colleges; Schools; Third Sector Organisations and most importantly the fantastic people of County Durham, offering their support and help.  He reiterated that all partners had worked incredibly hard and he would thank them for their efforts.

 

The Chief Executive noted that the agenda for the meeting was very interesting, including the Local Outbreak Control Plan, and that he was pleased to note that at this time the infection rate and risk was generally quite low in County Durham.  He explained that from a recent regional meeting he understood the regional rates were also comparatively low.  He expressed that partners remain vigilant for any possible outbreaks and that a great deal of planning was taking place within the local area. With the experience he had with local partners, both pre-COVID-19 and during the last few months, he was sure that all would work together effectively to do the best for the people of the County.

 

The Chief Executive was continuing to work with government to provide efficient testing facilities within the County, when needed, and ensuring the Council was provided with the relevant data to enable the appropriate decision making in terms of any such outbreaks.  He reiterated that partners were working together very effectively, and he was aware that the issues with national data and testing were starting to improve.

 

The Chief Executive thanked the Director of Public Health, her team and partners for their hard work, including in the preparation of the comprehensive Local Outbreak Control Plan, which he felt sure would stand the County in good stead.

 

The Director of Public Health gave a detailed presentation that highlighted the following:

 

·        Purpose of a Local Outbreak Control Plan, protecting the health of our local communities;

·        The role of the Health and Wellbeing Board;

·        The governance arrangements for Durham outbreak control;

·        The seven outbreak controls themes within the Plan: Care Homes and Schools; high risk places, locations and communities; local testing capacity; contract tracing in complex settings; data integration; vulnerable people; and Local Boards;

·        Local Outbreak Control Teams;

·        NHS Test and Trace;

·        Key Public Health Messages: stay at home as much as possible; work at home if you can; social distancing, 2m apart where possible; washing hands regularly; avoiding touching one’s face where possible; coughing and sneezing into a tissue, to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.